Specific Carbohydrate Diet for Pediatric Crohn's

Over the years there has been a lot of discussion about certain diets and how they help or hinder healing in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Recently more attention has been drawn to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet after a study showed that children with Crohn's Disease (CD) showed improvements on the diet.

For detailed information on what foods you can and can't eat on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet check out the Legal/Illegal List on the Breaking The Vicious Cycle site.

What does this mean for children with CD?

The study showed improvements in the mucosa of children with CD who followed the diet for 12 and 52 weeks. Unfortunately, only nine children were able to complete this study. That is in part due to the restrictive nature of this diet. It is hard to draw any real conclusions from such a small study.

The restrictive nature of this diet could also lead to deficiencies in certain areas like B vitamins, iron, calcium and potassium. This is especially worrisome in children who have such high rates of growth that nutritional deficiencies are even more likely.

If you want to try this diet it is best to do it under the supervision of a dietitian or physician to monitor nutritional status.

_Jennifer has a bachelor's degree in dietetics as well as graduate work in public health and nutrition. She has worked with families dealing with digestive disease, asthma and food allergies for the past 12 years. Jennifer also serves the Board of Directors for Pediatric Adolescent Gastroesophageal Reflux Association (PAGER). _

Jennifer Rackley is a dietitian and mother of three girls. Two of her children have dealt with acid reflux disease, food allergies, migraines, and asthma. She has a Bachelor of Science in dietetics from Harding University and has done graduate work in public health and nutrition through Eastern Kentucky University. In addition to writing for HealthCentral, she does patient consults and serves on the Board of Directors for the Pediatric Adolescent Gastroesophageal Reflux Association.